NLCS Game 6 Review

It’s over.

The Phillies 2010 season came to a disappointing conclusion on Saturday night as t-he San Francisco Giants won Game 6 of the NLCS 3-2 to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2002.  It was another frustrating night for the Phillies as they continuously squandered opportunities with runners in scoring position and could not capitalize on several opportunities.

With their season down to its final out, Ryan Howard stepped to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd and 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th.  It was a scenario straight out of a movie script.  The Phils clean up hitter at the plate with his team trailing by one and everything on the line.  Howard had yet to drive in a run during the entire postseason and it seemed this was the perfect opportunity for him to pick up his first RBI.  However, it was not to be for Howard and the Phillies as Brian Wilson struck him out looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the series.

“I thought it was ball four,” Howard said of the low fastball that was called strike three. “That’s the spot that everybody dreams about. Game on the line. This time, I came up short. You can’t go back, can’t change it.  It’s definitely frustrating.  We weren’t able to play up to our potential, and we know that.”

“There were a lot of things that were going on,” Howard continued. “I was thinking about the pitch. Our season was over. It’s kind of a sucky way to end the game, a sucky way to end the year, you know, being that guy.  It’s a little embarrassing. I’m not going to lie. I’ve just got to be better next year.”

The night started off strong for the Phillies as a Chase Utley single and Jayson Werth sacrifice fly gave the team an early 2-0 lead.  But the Giants answered in the top of the 3rd scoring two runs thanks to poor defense by the Phillies.

Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez struggled with his command and began the bottom of the 3rd by walking Placido Polanco.  He then hit Chase Utley in the upper back.  Utley and Sanchez have history dating back to 2009 when Sanchez threw over Utley’s head and he responded by hitting a home run to RF later in the at-bat.  After getting hit last night, Utley picked the ball up and tossed it back to the mound as he jogged down to 1st base.  The move clearly irked Sanchez who started screaming at Utley and both benches cleared.

Once the dust settled, Bruce Bochy went to his lefties in the bullpen and Jeremy Affeldt, Madison Bumgarner, and Javier Lopez combined to pitch 5 scoreless innings.

The Phillies had several opportunities to plate the go-ahead run.  Shane Victorino grounded out with the bases loaded to end the bottom of the 5th.  Raul Ibanez led off the 6th with a double to LF and moved up to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by Carlos Ruiz.  However Ben Francisco struck out looking and Jimmy Rollins flew out to CF to end the threat.  In the 8th, Shane Victorino and Ibanez hit back to back singles off of reliever Tim Lincecum but Carlos Ruiz lined into a 3-6 double play to end the inning.  The constant blown opportunities cost the Phillies the opportunity to become the first National League team since the 1942-1944 St. Louis Cardinals to advance to three consecutive World Series.

“That was our ultimate goal – to go to the World Series and win,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “We didn’t get there. I just left our clubhouse and you could tell, without a doubt, every guy in there is disappointed.”

“It’s definitely a huge disappointment,” said Raul Ibanez. “It’s tough, tough for sure. There’s a little bit of a sense of shock, you know because what we expected of ourselves was so high, not because of how well (the Giants) played. Expectations were so high.”

Roy Oswalt wasn’t as sharp as his Game 2 performance but was stellar on the mound for the Phillies.  He scattered 9 hits over 6 innings allowing 2 runs, 1 earned.  Oswalt was disappointed after the loss.

“We had the team to do it,” said Oswalt. “We just fell short.”

Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless 7th and had two outs in the 8th when Juan Uribe hit a solo home run just over the right field wall as the go-ahead run for the Giants.  The Phillies attempted to rally twice but came up short in the end.

8 months after it all began the Phillies season ended 6 wins shy of their ultimate goal.  It will be an interesting offseason headlined by the impending free agency of RF Jayson Werth.  But for now the Phillies head home for a long winter to reflect on a roller coaster season of injuries in which they won the most games in major league baseball for the first time in franchise history.  While there are plenty of positives to take away from the 2010 season, in the end it wasn’t enough to win it all.

In 112 days pitchers and catchers will report to Clearwater, Florida to start the long journey all over again.